Of Snakes and Sharingan
by A'isha Ishtar
Summary: "It was that late September we met... most frowned upon our relationship, but neither he nor I cared. After all... who ever said the Sharingan eyes couldn't tame snakes?" Orochimaru/OC, mentioned Naru/Saku and Sasu/Saku  NOT YAOI.
1. The Forgotten Uchiha

**Disclaimer: How many times to I have to say it? I DON'T OWN NARUTO. If I did, Orochimaru would be my pet snake. :D**

**Enjoy! I had started writing this a while ago, then I looked over it - and I realized it sucked. So I rewrote it. Happy happy joy joy! Read on my loyal peoples!**

"_My life so far has been boring. My brother, Ichimaru... he is truly the shinobi of the family. He is so amazing... the pride and joy of the Uchiha! I am so proud to call myself his sister. However, as I am a woman... my being a shinobi is forbidden. The Uchiha clan... is quite conservative with their female members. After all, we are needed to bear and rear children... to look after our home... to cook for all the shinobi of our family. Sometimes we even raise children who are not our own. I have taken care of my cousin's_ _three-year-old daughter for an entire month on one occasion. His wife died in childbirth, and so he has to raise her on his own, but he is a shinobi. He is always looking for someone to care for her while he is away on missions - and more often than not, that someone is his own family, usually myself or Ichimaru's wife, Koko. Diary, you do not know how many days I have spent wishing that I was a shinobi! I sigh for the fact that I can never become one due to my clan's laws. However, I did, several years ago as a teenager, opt for a surgery that allowed my Sharingan, the ocular Kekkei Genkai passed down in the Uchiha clan, to become my permanent eye color without using up any chakra. I cannot use the Sharingan, however; I merely think it looks strong and intimidating. Perhaps now all the men in the village shall leave me alone? I should like that. While I am not being CONSTANTLY flirted with, it does happen quite often. How I wish I could meet a man who would see me as a friend... not as... just an object to play with... that would be the most wonderful thing in the world to me. Are there any men like that left in the world, I wonder?"_

The blonde Hokage ran her amber eyes over the entire length of this first page, dated approximately thirty-four years ago. Tired, she reached for a bottle on the desk, which was handed to her by her dark-haired assistant. She gulped down half the bottle of water before finally making a comment on the journal in front of her. She glanced up at the two young ninja of her village, and leaned her cheek on her hand, supported by her elbow on the table. "So... what the hell am I looking at, you two?"

"Look at the signature," the pink-haired one, green eyes hard and focused at the moment. Her eyes, however, did currently possess an element of sadness.

"Notice anything weird about who signed it?" the blonde added, his blue eyes holding the same quality as his girlfriend's emerald ones.

The blonde woman raised an eyebrow, but resigned herself to the task. She glanced back down at the page, squinting her eyes to read the small print at the bottom of the entry. "Yuri... _Uchiha_?" Her head snapped up, gold eyes clouding over in fury. "Who is Yuri Uchiha? Is she related to... Sasuke? And Itachi?" She glared at the two ninja before her. She had the sudden urge to just smack her hand down on the table. They were supposed to answer her as _soon_ as she asked them something. "Well? Naruto, Sakura? Spit it out before I _really_ get mad!"

Sakura, the pink-haired one, swallowed thickly. "She's... Sasuke and Itachi's great-aunt. She was the brother of Ichimaru Uchiha, who was their paternal grandfather. She also had a sister, who gave birth to Sasuke and Itachi's aunts. She never had any children herself... and it's not hard to guess why, Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade, the blonde Hokage, gripped the diary so tightly Sakura and Naruto were afraid she'd rip the page. "Why did she never have children? Please, one of you, enlighten me on your theory as to why she never gave birth. Did her lover die? Was he sterile? Was she lesbian? Hmm?"

"N-No..." Sakura began, but Naruto cut her off.

"Her lover may or may not be sterile, she wasn't lesbian, and her lover didn't _die_," Naruto growled, slamming his hand down on the desk and bending so that he was at eye level with Tsunade. "Her lover was _Orochimaru_. Do you remember him, Grandma?"

"Orochimaru? He's..." Her eyes softened just a little bit. "Jiraiya and I would have known if Orochimaru had a lover."

"There are mentions of you and Master Jiraiya in the diary," Sakura commented. "You don't remember her? It says that she and Orochimaru met shortly after he and Anko returned from a training mission the Land of Mist. How old would you guys have been?"

Tsunade shrugged. "Probably about seventeen, eighteen maybe. Do you have a picture of her? Maybe it would job my memory." She shook her head. "See, I can tell I'm getting older by the fact that I'm _forgetting_ the woman who was supposedly the snake's courtier."

"Yeah, there was a photo in Konoha's database." Naruto placed the picture in front of Tsunade. "You remember her now?"

Tsunade stared down at the picture. It was a little blurry, but it wasn't so bad that she couldn't see it. The young woman in the picture had hair in a ponytail, and her hair was sky blue, but it was a darker shade of the color. Her eyes were the Sharingan, black tomoe pinwheeling around a bloodred backdrop. Her smile reached her eyes fully, and she was giving a grin that actually reminded Tsunade a little of Naruto. She was also giving the peace sign, crossing that arm over her chest so the hand was resting at the opposite cheek. She looked up. "You sure she's not related to _you_, Naruto?"

"Aw, she ain't... but she _was_ friends with my grandma," he replied almost proudly.

"_And_ my great-aunt," Sakura added. "Do you know her?"

"I remember seeing her... a few times..." Tsunade allowed a faint, rare smile to grace her lips. "It was hard to imagine, but... when she was around... Orochimaru was actually a pretty good guy. They were in love, it was so easy to see. He would talk about her a lot... annoyed the hell out of Anko. She wasn't even interested in guys yet, and she... man." She shook her head. "The good old days."

"It's hard to believe that Orochimaru could love," Sakura sighed. "I mean, looking at the way he is now... and reading how Miss Yuri describes him in that journal..." She twirled a strand of her hair. "I thought she was talking about some guy who just happened to have the same name. Before you and Master Jiraiya showed up in there, that is. It's so amazing... somebody like _him_ could actually be... nice to a person without having any strings attached. And as much as I... really hate to say it... I don't think Sasuke could ever be like that. Seems like..."

"Orochimaru's different than Sasuke," Tsunade finished. "They're both evil assholes with no goals other than world domination, but... believe it or not, Orochimaru wasn't always like that. Sure, he was twisted. And Yuri couldn't really change that about him. And sure, he loved power. She couldn't change that, either. But unlike Sasuke, Orochimaru isn't a revenge case. He's not looking for vengeance. All he wants is immortality. You remember I told you about Dan and Nawaki? I was so sad when that happened... and Orochimaru... was sad about it, too. He didn't want anybody to die ever again. He just... hated how frail humans were. He wanted to make it so that nobody would suffer all the pain that we did. That's... really all he ever wanted." She tucked the photo of Yuri away into the diary, and waved the two teenagers away. "Thanks. You guys can go now."

"Aren't you gonna look at it?" Naruto asked, his face just about screaming disbelief over the fact that she wasn't even going to check it out.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Naruto." Tsunade opened a drawer and placed the journal inside for later. "This is going to prove an interesting book. I'll let you know how I liked it."


	2. Through the Eyes of Love

"_My hair is, regrettably, different from the other Uchihas'. Most of the others have a variant of black or navy blue as a hair color. Mine, however, is a lighter blue, likely classified as a light blue-based cobalt._ _Is this a reasonable hair color for an Uchiha? I should think... NOT. It's well in the range, but it still doesn't fit in. My mother, God rest her soul, had silver hair. Quite unusual in this village, right? My father, who was naturally an Uchiha, had navy blue hair. Their colors must have mixed or something to create my color. It's not exactly a curse, but it certainly isn't a blessing either. After all, when I state my name, the person I am speaking to often cries in surprise, "You don't look like an Uchiha! I never would have thought it had you not said your name!"_

_I get so tired of that._

_Anyway, diary, that isn't really what I'm writing about. I'm writing about a man who... never said that. Everyone else I introduce myself to exclaims that I look nothing like an Uchiha. But this man... he did not. He simply gave a small smile, and kissed my hand. He looked at me, with those piercing but soft eyes, and told me that he didn't think Uchiha women were supposed to be pretty, but that I proved him wrong._

_... I think Hong-chan said his name was Orochimaru."_

Yuri Uchiha wasn't exactly the rambunctious type, but she certainly wasn't quiet either. In her clan, young ladies like herself were expected to be seen and not heard. With Yuri, it was usually the other way around. You would hear her coming, but you wouldn't be fast enough to avoid being knocked down as she ran with her friends. When reminded (or when she reminded herself), she would calm down and act her age. More often, she acted her height instead of her age. Her height? Five foot one, with most men towering above her. Instead of acting like she was eighteen years old, she acted five.

Today, however, that wasn't the case. She was enjoying a rare peaceful day with her friends, Fu-Ling Haruno and Hong Uzumaki. Hong's family owned the ramen shop (although a man named Ichiraku was trying to buy it from them), and Fu-Ling's family owned a motel in town. Yuri sat together with them on the bench, looking at the men who were passing by. They rated them on a scale of one to ten, depending on how cute the three girls thought they looked. Hong, being two months pregnant (and nursing a broken heart thanks to her child's father dumping her for a hussy), usually dragged the score down, giving scores of negative seven for any random man. The girls often partook in this type of "disgraceful" (as Yuri's brother described it) behavior, but nobody outside of her clan cared. As long as her brother wasn't around to serve as a spying weasel, they were fine to rate as they pleased.

Yuri placed a hand on Hong's stomach, trying to feel something. At only two months along, she wasn't showing _that_ much yet, but Yuri still wanted to feel a baby - though she knew she wouldn't feel anything until Hong was two more months along. "Have you thought about names yet, Hong-chan?"

Hong was busy munching on a stick of mitarashi dango. "Well, I'm thinking Kushina if it's a girl, or Hiroko if it's a boy."

"Ohhh, I hope you have a girl. Girls are so cute!"

"_Girls_," Hong agreed, "won't leave urine stains on the curtains when you try to change their diaper."

"That's true, too."

"Ooh! Yuri!" Yuri felt Fu-Ling pulling on her sleeve, and it felt like an excited type of pull, like she was trying to show her something. "Look at _him_!"

Yuri sighed, and decided to humor her friend. "Alright, where is..." She trailed off, because she had just seen the most beautiful man she'd ever seen before. It was a guy about her age, with skin so pale it looked white. His eyes... she couldn't tell from a distance what color his eyes were, but she would guess they were some lovely, exotic color. Jet black hair flowed over his shoulders onto his white robe like a river; it was so long it almost looked as if he could sit on it if he wished to. It appeared to be soft, like silk, almost with the look that it had been drawn on by charcoal. He looked so kind and tender... like he didn't want to hurt anybody, and he wasn't capable of causing pain. That was the kind of man she had been looking for her entire life, since Ichimaru had told her she was old enough to date. "Oh, Fu-Ling." She felt like she was in a dream. "He's so handsome."

Although Yuri couldn't see it, Fu-Ling raised a pink eyebrow. "Um, Yuri?" She made a couple of faces, squinting at the pale boy. It was like she was trying to see _how_ Yuri could possibly find the guy she'd pointed out attractive. "I meant he was creepy."

"Creepy?" Yuri couldn't comprehend that. While Fu-Ling was busy trying to figure out how Yuri could find the man attractive, Yuri was trying to figure out how Fu-Ling could _not_ find him attractive. "Fu-Ling, he's not creepy. I think he would be a... perfect ten." She gazed at him as he bent down to inspect some flowers. When he knelt down, his dark hair fell in front of his pale face like a curtain, to shield his innocence from those who would seek to destroy or corrupt it. The way he moved was almost like he was leading an extravagant, elaborate dance. And the way he touched the flowers! - oh, he was so careful, as if the petals could break off any second; his fingers barely brushed them. The closest he came to actually stroking the petals was that his nails fell against them when his hand moved. "Look at him - would a creepy guy be so gentle?"

"You never know, Yuri," Fu-Ling answered with a shrug. She leaned back and began to play with Hong's auburn hair. As this was one of Hong's pet peeves, Fu-Ling's hands were quickly swatted away. "Sometimes, the most beautiful things in the world are the worst of beasts on the inside - you know, like the Venus fly trap." Fu-Ling instead turned to playing with Yuri's blue hair, which was currently tied into a high ponytail. "It's a pretty plant, but touch a leaf and - snap! You're plant food. Like mulch."

Yuri made a face at Fu-Ling. She untangled her friend's fingers from her oddly colored hair and crossed her arms. "Aw, have you been drinking the water from the pool again? I've told you, people _swim_ in there and every once in a while, somebody _goes_ in it!"

"Hey!" Fu-Ling had a little catfight with Yuri, during which they pawed their hands at each other and whimpered. "I have _never_ done that, _as I keep telling you_!"

"That's Orochimaru," Hong declared, finally speaking up since they'd seen the new guy. "The guy Fu-Ling thinks is creepy and Yuri thinks is hot - his name's Orochimaru." Anyone who was listening would have thought Hong was just a smart-ass, but Fu-Ling and Yuri had long since gotten used to her mentioning random facts. However, unlike some people, her facts actually pertained to what they were talking about. And this wasn't exactly a random fact - it was just that nobody had asked about it yet.

"Orochimaru," Yuri said dreamily, drawing out all five syllables. She said it like it was the most beautiful song in the world. After saying it, and running over the pronunciation a few times in her head, she decided she liked the sound of it. "What a wonderful name."

"Yeah, _wonderful_," Fu-Ling grumbled without really meaning it. That usually annoyed people, the way she constantly used sarcasm. At this point, however, nobody was really paying as much attention to _how_ she was saying it, but _what_ she was saying. "It means 'great serpent destruction' or ' great destruction serpent'." She rolled her eyes and sat back, placing her hands in her lap and sighing. "Whatever way you translate it, he's trouble in paradise, I tell ya. If you don't believe me, look up the legend of Yamata no Orochi!"

"I think we have a more serious problem than his name," Hong reminded the pinkette, pointing at Yuri, who was oblivious to their conversation. She had learned to tune them out, and had been ignoring them for the last few minutes, just staring at the white-skinned brunette. "She hasn't rated a guy over eight point six since she rated Hashi Hyuga an eight point nine when he moved in next door to me, and she's _never_ rated a guy a perfect ten before - not even a _fictional_ guy."

"That _is_ a problem," Fu-Ling agreed, crossing her arms.

"He's from the Leaf Village, you know," Hong continued in her know-it-all voice.

"He is?" Yuri felt two things at the moment. One, happiness. And two, plain confusion. Her heart soared at the prospect that he was from her own village. He would be here around more, wouldn't he? That made her so giddy with glee, and she instantly wanted to see him more. But this also tossed her brain into a jumble. After all, if he was from this village...

Why hadn't she ever noticed him before?


End file.
